Houston Daily

U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul from Texas has announced his new role as co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Australia Caucus. He will share this responsibility with Congressman Joe Courtney from Connecticut, who has been a long-time co-chair.

"As the United States' adversaries work together to create an increasingly dangerous world, trusted allies like Australia are as critical as ever. That's why I've worked diligently to strengthen AUKUS — the Australia-U.K.-U.S. alliance that keeps Chairman Xi up at night," said Rep. McCaul. "A strong U.S. relationship with Australia benefits both of our economies, enhances our mutual security, and deters the CCP's malign ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. I look forward to working with Congressman Courtney, who has a proven commitment to the U.S.-Australia alliance, to continue bolstering the caucus' work at this important time in history."

Congressman Courtney expressed enthusiasm for working alongside McCaul: "I am very excited to work with Congressman McCaul, who demonstrated his active support for the U.S.-Australia alliance in 2023 by partnering to enact historic bipartisan AUKUS authorities," said Rep. Courtney AO. "As Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he guided committee approval of key ITAR provisions that were incorporated into the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. The bipartisan Friends of Australia Caucus has more work to do to build on that success, and I look forward to working with Michael to achieve this goal."

The Congressional Friends of Australia Caucus is dedicated to strengthening ties between the United States and Australia through economic and defense collaborations. Congressman McCaul has been an advocate for this partnership and has supported legislation enhancing the AUKUS defense pact involving Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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